Concerns about imported food have grown along with the increasing U.S. demand for seafood variety and fresh produce at all times of the year. The CDC cited USDA numbers[2] that food imports grew from $41 billion in 1998 to $78 billion in 2007. A startling figure: As much as 85 percent of seafood eaten in the U.S. comes from imports. Given how little control the FDA and USDA have so far over imported food, those numbers get even more worrisome.

From 2005 to 2010, the new CDC report says, imported food caused 39 disease outbreaks in the U.S., sickening 2,348. The food came from 15 different countries. Seventeen of those outbreaks came in 2009 and 2010, pushing CDC officials to ask the question whether problems are increasing, or the numbers are just a blip.

The USDA numbers also say that at certain times of the year, up to 60 percent of fresh produce eaten in the U.S. comes from imports.

The FDA gained new powers to inspect and oversee third-party auditors in imported foods when Congress passed the Food Modernization and Safety Act last year. The FDA has asked for more money to implement the new powers[3], but Congress-watchers are skeptical that the agency will get the new money it needs.

There was some good news on the growing debate over “pink slime” in hamburgers, though. USDA appears to be giving school lunch programs more choices[4] in higher quality beef, which would allow buyers to avoid the low-grade beef that includes a protein-slurry additive treated with ammonia that has been notoriously dubbed “pink slime.”